The Greatest Books of All Time on Beauty

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
89 The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde 1890 Irish English
130 The Tale of Genji Murasaki Shikibu 1001 Japanese Classical japanese
178 The Flowers of Evil Charles Baudelaire 1857 French French
240 Death in Venice Thomas Mann 1912 German German
308 The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison 1970 American English
343 The Sonnets William Shakespeare 1609 British English
373 The Duino Elegies Rainer Maria Rilke 1923 German German
388 The Complete Works of Plato Plato -387 Greek Ancient greek
464 Petrarch's Songbook Francesco Petrarca 1341 Italian Italian
465 Collected Poems Wallace Stevens 1954 American English
499 Platero Juan Ramón Jiménez 1914 Spanish Spanish
811 The Phantom of the Opera Gaston Leroux 1909 French French
824 Rhymes And Legends Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer 1871 Spanish Spanish
860 The Solitudes Luis de Góngora 1613 Spanish Spanish
865 The Pillow Book Sei Shōnagon 1002 Japanese Japanese
900 The Poems of Sappho Sappho -569 Greek Ancient greek
919 The Poems Of Gerard Manley Hopkins Gerald Manley Hopkins 1918 British English
974 The Poems of John Keats John Keats 1817 British English
1031 The Temple of the Golden Pavilion Yukio Mishima 1956 Japanese Japanese
1100 Collected Poems Of Edward Thomas Edward Thomas 1920 British English
1123 The Symposium Plato -385 Greek Ancient greek
1235 Cheri Colette 1920 French French
1273 Selected Poems of Lord Byron Lord Byron 1800 British English
1304 Collected Poems Stéphane Mallarmé 1887 French French
1472 The Beauty Of The Husband Anne Carson 2001 Canadian English
1591 Wry-Blue Loves Tristan Corbière 1873 French French
1655 The Beauty Myth Naomi Wolf 1990 American English
1667 The Poetry of Alexander Pushkin Alexander Pushkin 1836 Russian Russian
1825 Studies In The History Of The Renaissance Walter Pater 1873 British English
1933 Capital of Pain Paul Éluard 1926 French French
1979 Furor and Mystery René Char 1948 French French
2016 The Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley 1810 British English
2025 Memoirs of a Geisha Arthur Golden 1997 American English
2155 The Flame Of Life Gabriele D'Annunzio 1900 Italian Italian
2161 The Poetical Works Of William Wordsworth William Wordsworth 1807 British English
2175 Paris Spleen Charles Baudelaire 1869 French French
2214 Roman Elegies Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1795 German German
2342 Song of Songs Christian Church -500 Jewish Hebrew
2418 A Mathematician's Apology G. H. Hardy 1940 British English
2421 Phaedrus Plato -370 Greek Ancient greek
2467 On Beauty Zadie Smith 2005 British English
2565 Poetry Quintus Lutatius Catulus -89 Roman Latin
2640 The Palm At The End Of The Mind Wallace Stevens 1971 American English
2726 Last Poems A. E. Housman 1922 British English
2746 The Romance of the Rose Guillaume (de Lorris) 1230 French Old french
2887 John Keats Walter Jackson Bate 1963 American English
2912 Délie Maurice Scève 1544 French French
3221 Aphrodite Pierre Louÿs 1896 French French
3295 Sonnets Francisco de Quevedo 1648 Spanish Spanish
3372 Fable Of Polyphemus And Galatea Luis de Góngora 1627 Spanish Spanish
3392 Selected Poetry Of Francisco De Quevedo Francisco de Quevedo 1648 Spanish Spanish
3493 Selected Poems Pierre Ronsard 1501 French French
3519 Poems of Friedrich Hölderlin Friedrich Holderlin 1800 German German
3582 Selected Poems Andrew Marvell 1681 British English
3595 Thick Tressie McMillan Cottom 2019 American English
3636 Odes John Keats 1820 British English
3638 Renascence and Other Poems Edna St. Vincent Millay 1917 American English
3638 The Seven Lamps Of Architecture John Ruskin 1849 British English
3893 Beauty On Earth Charles Ferdinand Ramuz 1927 French French
3934 One Hundred Poems Kenneth Slessor 1944 Australian English
4073 The Song Of Everlasting Sorrow Wang Anyi 1995 Chinese Chinese
4544 The Collected Poems Of Odysseus Elytis Odysseas Elytis 1971 Greek Greek
4669 The Painter Of Modern Life Charles Baudelaire 1863 French French
4782 The Art Of Love Ovid 2 Roman Latin
4799 Nature Ralph Waldo Emerson 1836 American English
4816 The New Oxford Book Of English Verse Helen Gardner 1972 British English
4981 New Poems Rainer Maria Rilke 1907 German German
5033 I Feel Bad About My Neck Nora Ephron 2006 American English
5043 Selected Poems Of George Sterling George Sterling 1923 American English
5081 Autobiography Of A Face Lucy Grealy 1994 American English
5392 Poems Of Juana Inés De La Cruz Juana Inés de la Cruz 1689 Mexican Spanish
5392 Personae Ezra Pound 1909 American English
5570 Imaginary Portraits Walter Pater 1887 British English
5821 Hymns And Epigrams Callimachus -239 Greek Ancient greek
5822 Idylls Theocritus -260 Greek Ancient greek
5830 Poems Alkman -650 Greek Ancient greek
5856 The New Life Dante Alighieri 1295 Italian Italian
5857 Selections Francesco Petrarca 1340 Italian Italian
5861 Poems And Prose Gerald Manley Hopkins 1918 British English
5861 Selected Poetry Rainer Maria Rilke 1902 German German
5861 Twenty Love Poems And A Song Of Despair Pablo Neruda 1924 Chilean Spanish
5901 Poems Of George Darley George Darley 1840 Irish English
6003 The Oxford Book Of English Verse Arthur Quiller-Couch 1900 British English
6003 Notebooks Joseph Joubert 1883 French French
6003 Sonnets Louise Labé 1556 French French
6199 The Elegies Of Oxopetra Odysseas Elytis 1991 Greek Greek
6331 Devotions Mary Oliver 2017 American English
6409 Bluets Maggie Nelson 2009 American English
6431 La Jeune Parque Paul Valéry 1917 French French
6437 The Gaudy Image William Talsman 1958 American English
6653 Beauty Salon Mario Bellatin 1994 Mexican Spanish
6717 On The Aesthetic Education Of Man Friedrich Schiller 1794 German German
7001 Collected Poems Jack Gilbert 2012 American English
7178 A Book of Luminous Things Czesław Miłosz 1996 Polish English
7215 Sonnets And Madrigals Michelangelo Buonarroti 1545 Italian Italian
7215 Rime Gaspara Stampa 1554 Italian Italian
7215 Poetry Antònio Ferreira 1558 Portuguese Portuguese
7215 Sonnets Luis de Góngora 1601 Spanish Spanish
7215 Poems Of Henry Howard Henry Howard 1557 British English
7215 Astrophel And Stella Philip Sidney 1591 British English
7215 Poems Of Michael Drayton Michael Drayton 1605 British English
7215 The Works Of Thomas Campion Thomas Campion 1909 British English
7215 The Poetical Works Of Robert Herrick Robert Herrick 1648 British English
7215 The Poems Of Thomas Carew Thomas Carew 1640 British English
7215 The Poems Of Richard Lovelace Richard Lovelace 1649 British English
7215 The Complete Works Of Richard Crashaw Richard Crashaw 1652 British English
7215 The Poems Of William Collins William Collins 1746 British English
7215 Odes, Elegies, Sonnets Pierre Ronsard 1550 French French
7215 Venetian Epigrams Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1790 German German
7215 Selected Poems Freidrich Hölderlin 1800 German German
7215 Odes And The Graces Ugo Foscolo 1822 Italian Italian
7215 Poetic Meditations Alphonse de Lamartine 1820 French French
7215 Enamels And Cameos Théophile Gautier 1852 French French
7215 Selected Poems Of Paul Verlaine Paul Verlaine 1896 French French
7215 The Poems Of Walter Savage Landor Walter Savage Landor 1846 British English
7215 A Defence Of Poetry Percy Bysshe Shelley 1840 British English
7215 Poems Of Thomas Lovell Beddoes Thomas Lovell Beddoes 1851 British English
7215 Nepenthe George Darley 1835 Irish English
7215 Poems Of Thomas Hood Thomas Hood 1826 British English
7215 Poems And Translations Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1870 British English